Hope works: How departing N.J. pastor's program gave Camden kids a job, chance

Posted June 9, 2015 at 10:13 AM

jeff putthoff

Jeff Putthoff, center, a Jesuit priest, arrived in Camden in 1998 to serve as assistant pastor of Holy Name Catholic Church. After nearly 10 years, he will be leaving Hopeworks 'N Camden in the fall. (Photo provided)
((Photo provided))

CAMDEN -- Jeff Putthoff remembers the sound of shattered glass crunching beneath his feet. While studying theology 20 years ago, he stood at 5th and York streets during a cross-carrying religious ceremony.

The experience set in motion more than a decade's worth of not just helping the city's youth, but putting them to work and attempting to cure what ailed them at home.

"I wanted to know... how did they have hope," Father Putthoff, the outgoing executive director of Hopeworks 'N Camden, said last week of standing at that street corner and seeing blight all around him.

Putthoff, a locally-recognized and award-winning Jesuit priest, arrived in Camden in 1998 to serve as assistant pastor of Holy Name Catholic Church. Not long after, he began working with local youth thanks to a partnership between his house of worship, Grace Lutheran Church and Christus Lutheran Church.

Thinking ahead: In February 2000, Hopeworks opened its doors to high school- and college-aged youth to teach these "trainees" Internet-based technology in an era just before its mass proliferation and application.

Fresh batches of young adults would eventually learn how to use software to build websites, collect digital data, do interactive mapping and help clients through constituent management software.

Fifteen years and nearly 3,000 trainees later, the non-denominational Hopeworks has built more than 450 websites; helped with city-wide efforts to collect data on abandoned properties, street lighting and tree coverage; generated more than $15 million in revenue and awarded four annual $1,000 college scholarships.

Understanding: "We employee people who otherwise wouldn't be employed," Putthoff said, adding that the trainees stand to gain a stipend, could be offered an internship and even pay rent for a home under Hopeworks' wings.

Putthoff said they employment issue stems from a lack of job opportunities elsewhere and a vicious cycle of the underlying reasons at home -- neglect, abuse, poverty, safety -- that carry over into their daily life.

If a student was late, the program didn't punish them out of fear that they wouldn't return.

"We switched our culture from why are you late to how did it happen," he said. "The issue is the incredible stress they live under."

It's called trauma-informed care and it's meant to recognize all types of trauma and explore how to build someone back up in the brief time they are enrolled in Hopeworks. A third of the program's history has been spent trying to make that change.

"Youth come not to be web heads; they come to us because it's a safe place, a place of hope, a place to get your G.E.D," Putthoff said, adding that technology is merely the scaffolding and he could have been teaching plumbing so long as the means justified the end.

Planning for the future: At the end of August, Putthoff will move to University of Pennsylvania to complete an advanced degree in organizational dynamics. Dan Rhoton, Hopeworks' current chief impact director, will take over as executive director.

"We're looking forward to the future of Hopeworks, as we work with more youth not only to heal, but to build Camden," Rhoton said.

Putthoff still sees room for improvement -- not at Hopeworks, but the city he's help lift up.

Although businesses are relocating to Camden, "... we're not building a city for the people who've been hurt."